


Beside You

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [66]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Aftermath, Disasters, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 09:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: The thing Jason doesn't think of until after they've fended off Rita's attack is that just becausetheysurvived, that doesn't mean everyone else did.The Rangers start to address the fallout of Rita's assault on their hometown.





	Beside You

The thing Jason doesn't think of until after they've fended off Rita's attack is that just because _they_ survived, that doesn't mean everyone else did.

The realization comes to him the afternoon after they save Angel Grove, as he sits at home nursing bruises that he knows will heal all together too soon. He's just marked himself _Safe during the Angel Grove Attacks_ on Facebook when he sees three news stories on his feed about the attacks. All the articles emphasize that these are just preliminary reports, but the death toll is already over twenty-five, the number hospitalized for injuries well over a hundred. And that's just within the first few hours.

It tightens something in Jason's chest.

The casualty tolls continue to roll in (forty, sixty, seventy confirmed deaths, and the number keeps rising), and Jason finds himself staring at them in a kind of morbid fascination for far longer than is probably wise. It takes a kind of restraint and patience he didn't know he had not to shatter his phone in his hand, and it's only the memory of Kim's phone, destroyed beyond repair that keeps his grip loose.

When the confirmed injuries reach three hundred, Jason grabs his jacket and storms out to his car. If he has to live through the aftermath, he's at least not going to do it alone.

(He doesn't hear his dad calm his anxious stepmother down, doesn't see him draw her away from the door. He doesn't know his dad knows. But then, that's for the best, isn't it?)

He drives as far into the mine as he can, getting as close to the cliff face as possible. He wastes no time taking the plunge, and makes good time to the ship. When he gets there, he isn't as surprised as he thinks he probably should be to see the rest of the team hovering around the morphing grid, all in varying degrees of distress. Zack's watching Billy pace, and Trini is holding what is clearly Kim's phone, as though to keep it out of her reach. Relief settles in Jason's lungs at seeing his team here, together, united even through the tragedy and pain of the morning. It's not enough to quell the sense of responsibility he feels for the damage, but it does ease the tension.

Jason settles down next to Zack, cueing into Billy's mutterings as he does. It takes him awhile to parse what's going on in Billy's head, but when he does, he can't fight the grin that spreads over his face.

Zack seems to see the shift in expression out of the corner of his eye, and turns to smirk at Jason head-on. "I figured you'd be up for it," he says conspiratorially, his voice carrying just enough to get the girls' attention. "Just wondered how long it'd take you to catch on."

Jason feels his grin widen at that. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Jason nods, leaning back on his hands. "Still. Gimme a minute."

Zack hums, his eyes going back to Billy. Jason doesn't so much see as _feel_ the way the girls turn to listen to Billy as well, and he can _feel_ the moment they understand. When he opens his eyes, everyone but Billy is looking right at him, waiting for him to make the call.

So he does.

Jason gets to his feet, clapping Billy on the shoulder and startling him out of his muttering. Jason winces, not having intended to be so brusque, but after a moment Billy smiles at him, understanding humming through the bond that seems to have sprung up between them since their near-death experience.

"Come on, team," Jason says, turning to the rest of them. "We've got work to do."

——

Donning their armor and cleaning up the area around the attack isn't going to be enough to cleanse the pain of what's happened here today, or fully atone for the damage of Rita's sins, but it's a start. And that, at the end of the day is what they needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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